Kiwi BMXer Sarah Walker has finished fifth at the BMX World Championships in Rotterdam.

It was the best finish for the Kiwi elites, with Marc Willers and Kurt Pickard bombing out of the elite men's competition with DNFs in the eighth-finals.

Junior woman Hannah Sarten lost out in the semifinals with a sixth place finish in her heat, after coming into the event as a favourite.

Walker's final started poorly, with the Cambridge rider last out of the gate and into the first turn. From there her medal chances were gone, barring a crash further up the field, and that crash never came.

Walker was able to work her way through the field, but simply didn't have time to catch the medal winners.

Colombia's Mariana Pajon took gold, streaking clear of her competitors to finish in 26.983 seconds.

The United States' Alise Post was second, half a second back, and hometown hero Laura Smulders was third.